Comments

It seems that the 7" Nuvi 2790 will be the hot Garmin product of the 2013 series. With the 4.3" units becoming small toys and the 5" ones seeming less and less impressive (basically for having the same screen resolution as their little brothers) it has become obvious that the 7" units are the future. The future is here today! It remains to be seen though:1) If the larger screen and higher resolution will display more map area.2) If new features will be included such as better guidance, better (and easier) trip planner and more advanced voice control.

Some other things to discuss.Is the FM transmitter a nice plus? IMO it's completely useless, as all cars today have their own hi-fi system. No need for sure to pass MP3s from the Nuvi to the stereo. Watching a video movie though could be ok during a stop. More useful yet could be a TV tuner to watch the 5 o'clock news.I believe that the 2790 European model will be customized to EU standards, as the US-Canadian model will have less features.

With the 4.3" units becoming small toys and the 5" ones seeming less and less impressive (basically for having the same screen resolution as their little brothers) it has become obvious that the 7" units are the future.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too much. Assuming that the 2790 is based on the same hardware as the dēzl 760, the screen has a resolution of 800x480 pixels. This is the same as the 4.3" Nuvi 3790/3490 and also the 5" Nuvi 3590.

So I think everything will just be "bigger" and you won't see any more of the map.

Maybe I'm in the minority but bigger isn't better in the case of an on-dashboard GPS. Bigger means it blocks more of the view of the road in front of me and that is a concern for me. I live in a city where the average driver is talking on their phone, drinking coffee and talking to someone else in the car so visibility is important :roll:

Well I mount my GPS lower so it doesn't block any of the windshield and isn't in my field of view unless I want to look at it. But these 7" units are really marketed for trucks and RV's, where you have to mount the GPS farther away. So they just make everything larger on the screen and the end result is that it takes up as much of your field of view as a smaller device that is mounted closer to the drive.

Bigger IS better. Blocking the view ahead is not (IMO) an issue. Depends on where you mount it. You can always find the correct place and have the same (or even less) field of view ahead blocked. As the screen is bigger (and clearer) you can mount it a bit further from the driver.As far as the specifications, I expect the 7" model to give me more map area (and more info as well). Having the same resolution as the 3790 unit, and similar hardware, don't necessarily mean that the 7" model has to be a magnified version of the 5". If the programming is different (i.e. more intelligent) it can shine on this area. Otherwise (given the fact that it will cost more), it will fail to sell in volumes. GARMIN have taken their lesson and can't afford to repeat past mistakes.

Well, two 7" models have been officially announced by Garmin along with other 2013 new models. The most interesting model is the 2797. It has less features (as predicted) compared to the Japanese unit, with the most interesting being:- Garmin Traffic; new ways to display traffic info.- More intelligent voice control.- Smartphone Link.- Real Directions with Garmin's Real Voice.- Active lane guidance with voice prompts (colored arrows indicate the proper lane to follow with a friendly voice offering additional help.)- More information at a glance: as you drive up ahead the unit constantly informs you of nearby services, as restaurants, fuel stations, hospitals and stores. It also displays speed limits, current speed and accurate(!) time of arrival. With a quick glance, you can read the name of your current street and spot school zone warnings.- Garmin Express: one place to update maps, software, etc.- Bluetooth- Ecoroute purchased separately for $9.99.

From the pictures shown on Garmin's site I noticed that the 2797 displays more map information than any unit so far. Even distant roads are named, hence the long awaiting for a gps that gives you position awareness is probably over.

@ BoydWhat I meant was "compared to the previous 2012 models". Since I am discussing the 2797 model as the only member of the 2013 advanced series with a 7" screen, I guess my previous comment makes sense. Anyway, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I have a 2790V mounted on my dash it's big but not insane, my previous car had a 9" screen on top.

I really love the 2790v (v=traffic and VICS too) I have loaded about 30 full length movies and 300 songs on it, it also has a FM transmitter so you can blast the sound to your stereo. The TV is nice too but obviously it only receives digital Japanese channels where I'm at.

My only negative is that you really need to dash mount it and that requires the installation of a 3" adhesive disk to your dash.

It seems that the 7" Nuvi 2790 will be the hot Garmin product of the 2013 series. With the 4.3" units becoming small toys and the 5" ones seeming less and less impressive (basically for having the same screen resolution as their little brothers) it has become obvious that the 7" units are the future.

I'm not sure what you are saying here. This 7" inch unit's screen still has 800x480 pixel size, which is the same as the top-end 4.3" units of previous years.

1) If the larger screen and higher resolution will display more map area.

Higher resolution? No, having the same pixel count on a much bigger screen, it actually has much lower resolution (in formal meaning of the term) than previous top-end models. 1.6 times lower.

From the pictures shown on Garmin's site I noticed that the 2797 displays more map information than any unit so far. Even distant roads are named, hence the long awaiting for a gps that gives you position awareness is probably over.

Being only a 800x480 unit, just like 4.3" 3490, the only way it can display "more map information" is by sacrificing the definition of every map element. This might be acceptable for icons and other graphics, but it is not acceptable for text.

No, for true "position awareness" we need a 7" unit that preserves screen resolution of top-end 4.3" units. Which means that it has to has 7/4.3 = 1.62 more pixels along each axis. It has to be about 1296x778.

I can see no difference between the 4.3. 5.0 or 7.0 screen (I actually own all of them) If you have a decent quality WMV movie it looks like DVD quality when watching it. When my screen splits into JCV view it is a little easier to see both screens than when using the smaller models.

Another plus is when the screens get bigger the selection tabs for the touch screen also get bigger so you don't end up fat fingering the wrong selection like the smaller models.

In the US I can see one big negative:

1. Stateside sooner or later someone will smash and grab it. It would be hassle to remove it constantly. Fortunately where I'm at that's not an issue and I have no problem leaving it on the dash in Japan.